The United Nations Security Council says it will meet Wednesday to formally consider the Palestinian bid for statehood and full U.N. membership, a move many see as certain to fail.

Council President Nawaf Salam briefed reporters about the decision Monday after the group held preliminary talks in New York. He gave no further details.

Despite a U.S. threat to veto the Palestinian bid, the divided 15-nation body is expected to form a special committee later this week to examine the application submitted last Friday by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. A month or more could pass before the Council is ready to vote.

The United States and Israel are intensively lobbying Security Council members to oppose or abstain. Four non-permanent members – Bosnia, Colombia, Gabon and Nigeria – have yet to make definitive statements about how they will vote.

The Middle East Quartet – the U.S., U.N., European Union and Russia – has called on Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks within a month and reach an agreement by next year.

Mr. Abbas told thousands of supporters in Ramallah Sunday that he would resume peace talks only if Israel stopped building settlements in occupied territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the U.N. bid is wrong and should not succeed because Palestinians want a state without first committing to security guarantees for Israel. He repeated his call for the Palestinians to resume immediate peace talks without preconditions.

A top Palestinian aide said Israel has placed unacceptable preconditions on peace negotiations. Hanan Ashrawi said Israel “wants to annex Jerusalem” and “remove [Palestinian] refugees from the agenda.” She said Israel “wants everything, and then says, 'Let's talk.'”

U.S.-mediated peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians stalled a year ago after an Israeli moratorium on West Bank settlement construction expired. Palestinians oppose construction on land they want as part of a future state.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki has said the new initiative calling for the resumption of peace talks is not sufficient because it does not call for an Israeli settlement construction freeze. Malki said the Quartet's plan also fails to require an Israeli withdrawal to the borders in place before Israel took control of the Palestinian territories in 1967.

U.S. President Barack Obama said recently that Washington would use its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block any resolution recognizing the Palestinians. In his U.N. address, Mr. Obama said the only solution is direct talks between the two sides.